


Nervous Laughter

by fragilevixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Humor, RST, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 15:44:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18854104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilevixen/pseuds/fragilevixen
Summary: It’s been two full days since their tender, albeit brief, moment at the stroke of midnight and Mulder decides to be brave and methodical by inviting Scully over for a little movie and popcorn night for a film that has stayed locked in his mind as her favorite—The Exorcist.There be laughs here...And puns...So MANY PUNS.And a whack-a-mole reference.





	1. Three Strikes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RationalCashew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RationalCashew/gifts).



> Cate, Cate, Cate...my darling, Cate...you were so patient in wanting this and I hope I came even HALFWAY close in delivering.
> 
> I chose a couple of movies that I, personally, enjoy...if you haven't seen Rear Window, you need to.
> 
> Disclaimer: Agent Scully, Agent Mulder, and Assistant Director Skinner belong respectively to Chris Carter, FOX Productions, and TenThirteen Productions. All other characters are original and any likeness or named similarities to any real-life persons are purely coincidental (unless, well, you’ve been told, then you should’ve expected such things and shouldn’t get upset over anything that happens to them, respectively)

 

 

_Think about scary movies:_

_There’s a fine line_

_Between horror and humor._

-Roy Blount, Jr.

 

 

9:45 PM

Sunday, January 2nd, 2000

Mulder’s Apartment

 

                Mulder’s place typically resembled a war zone every day of the week but it was worse than normal as he was now operating with a singular arm and was dropping the occasional f-bomb after slipping the right from the sling to move it in a direction against better judgment. He was trying to clean and failing miserably at that. He had been carrying piles of misidentified laundry, leaving a trail of socks behind him that had been tossed into the wrong hamper—he really didn’t know if they were clean and didn’t really want to sniff a single one to find out. Two things were going right since the day had begun; he located the movie of his choice at Blockbuster, then stopped off at a grocery store to hobble his way through the snack aisle where he located the microwave popcorn, and managed to carry, unscathed, a six pack of imported beer back to the car without breaking bones in the other arm. Mulder wasn’t typically the kind of guy to believe that he needed a certain number of good karma in order to carry out the remainder of the day but he nodded and tossed the tape onto the table next to the wrapped, un-popped corn.

                That’s when the phone rang and he nearly broke his neck all over again as one of the socks found the bottom of his foot, compelling him into one of the most awkward of positions as he stretched to answer.

                “Narrowly missed just becoming Miss Mulder…” His voice cracked as he crumpled against the couch and rubbed his inner thigh with the hand cradled in the sling against his body.

                Scully held her breath on the other line and cleared her throat, a pause more than evident of the laugh she was muffling. “Mulder, it’s me, are you okay over there?”

                “Okay is a variable term, Scully,” Mulder didn’t really want to announce to the woman he was hoping to be sitting with for the next two to three hours with that he was cradling his manhood after nearly doing the splits to answer her call. “I’m just cleaning up the ole homestead, Doc.”

                “You better not be taking that sling off or using your injured arm, Mulder,” Scully’s tone made him instantly roll his eyes as he stood up and started rifling through a stack of delivery menus.

                “I’m being a good boy,” Mulder flipped to the copy of the Chicago Pizza company that he had been getting takeout from and tapped it across the back of the chair at the table. “Hey, Scully, do you want some pizza, beer, popcorn, and a side of your thoroughly entertaining partner on a school night?”

                “Are you getting stir crazy already?” Scully hadn’t been thinking nearly deep enough about the past two days to understand the motivation of the invitation as she laughed a little at his phrasing. “Do you think that you’re capable of keeping your hand to yourself?”

                “That isn’t even a little bit funny, Scully,” Mulder’s jaw dropped open over her little quip about his arm as he glanced down at it resting weirdly in the powder blue sling. “I can’t promise anything for this thing in the sling—he does what he wants and I’m just attached to him at this point. So, are you coming over or not?”

                “This is sounding more like I’m going to watch you perform a puppet show and less like watching a movie with you, Mulder…so which is it, exactly?” Scully was on a roll as the laugh left her lips before she could even finish her entire question, the reaction of which had him slow blinking in the archway between the living room and dining room.

                “You’re expecting me to behave myself and you’re making fun of me, I see how it is,” Mulder eyed the beer and knew he’d need at least half of that six-pack by the end of the night. “I guess you’re just going to have to get here to find out, then, huh?”

                “Alright, I’m done, I’ll be there in twenty minutes but I have one request before I put on my coat and it’s not negotiable,” Scully had taken a deep breath, quieting the last of her laughter in the process.

                “What’s that, Scully?” Mulder had a grin plastered on his face as he adjusted the sling and gently scratched at the exposed skin along his palm, wincing just a little bit as he avoided any of the damage from their earlier misadventures.

                “No alien autopsies or Sasquatch caught on tape…under any circumstances.”

 

 

_“…I’m not much on rear window ethics, Scully.”_

 

 

                “Frohike, no means no…I said that I’m busy tonight for a change…no, it doesn’t mean I’m sitting here watching whatever you think I’m watching,” Mulder had his phone plastered to his ear, picking up the last of his errant socks from the floor as he disappeared into the bedroom. “None of your business, that’s what…You should listen to Byers or the next time I see you, I might make sure you’ve gotten a little shorter when I play whack-a-mole with you.”

                Mulder had been on the phone since the delivery man dropped off the pizza and Frohike was being less than cooperative about not being privy to the goings-on at ‘Casa de Mulder’ at shortly after ten on a Sunday. He knew the risks of answering the call when Frohike was doing the most annoying sound in the world on the answering machine in a desperate, teenaged level attempt to get him to answer, as usual. The persistence, however, was amusing for Mulder until he glanced at his watch and knew that Scully would be showing up at any minute to him getting his ear talked off by a man who had a crush on her the size of the Empire State Building. The thought, while typical, was less than pleasing as he shoved the last of his laundry into the hamper and flicked the light off. She was already going to want to check him for a fever over how clean his apartment was, or worse, check him into the nearest psych ward for a lack of odor other than stale pizza or takeout that had worn out its welcome.

                “My own mom isn’t even this nosey and you’re keeping me on the phone on purpose, Frohike,” Mulder rolled his eyes as he came back into the living room just as the front door opened and Scully peeked around from the other side. “Hey, come in, shut the door…you’re letting the heat out.”

                “You cleaned?” Scully pushed the door shut, locking it behind her before pulling her jacket off, the droplets of water still on it from a fresh January rain. “Are you feeling okay?”

                “No, not you, Frohike,” Mulder tilted the phone away from his mouth as he purposely scoped her out in a pair of jeans, a smile perched on his lips as he watched her tuck her hair behind her ears. “Can’t a guy tidy up without feeling ill? I’m sure I’ve got one of those rectal thermometers around here if you’re really concerned…”

                “I’m not here for that kind of fun, Mulder,” Scully shrugged both shoulders and angled her head to the side, her eyebrows elevating as she moved toward him, the subtle amusement brewing as she smirked. “This place usually looks like it’s been on the receiving end of what happens when you eat and get onto a tilt-o-whirl, you know that…you going to get off the phone so we can watch this movie or is Frohike watching with us via telephone?”

                “You’re not helping his curiosity and now he’s babbling nonsensically in the background about me being an unbelievable asshole,” Mulder held his hand over the receiver as he watched her petite curves while she moved, lingering longer than necessary as she slid into a comfortable spot on the couch.

                “Hey, I’m just the person you asked to come to watch a movie over beer, pizza, and popcorn,” Scully slid out of her shoes before pulling the throw blanket across her lap, concealing half of her body in the process. “I’m one hundred percent innocent in all of this.”

                “Right,” Mulder rolled his eyes and directed his attention to the box of pizza along with the first set of opened beer on the coffee table while half shouting into the phone. “Frohike…I gotta go…pizza is getting cold, beer is getting warm, and I have popcorn to pop. Try not to give yourself an aneurysm with all of that overthinking you’ve got going on…maybe I will, maybe I won’t…goodnight, Frohike.”

                They met glances and smiled in spite of the awkwardness before Mulder clicked the phone back onto the charging base while Scully reached for the beer meant for her on the table. “Was Frohike having a meltdown knowing that I was here and he wasn’t?”

                “Frohike was having a meltdown because I said no to listening to a paranoia theory tonight because I have plans…and then that same meltdown turned into a complete cluster fuck when he realized said plans were right here with you. My comment about the rectal thermometer wasn’t really helping that situation,” Mulder picked up the popcorn from the table and went into the kitchen, unwrapped it and put it into the microwave. “I went with a meat lover’s and don’t ask me what kind of moronic decision the beer was—I just grabbed anything that wasn’t the Budweiser, Miller, or Coors variety.”

                “That’ll do it, I’m sure. Oh, look at you being fancy. So, what are we watching?” Scully pulled a slice from the box, nibbling at it as she leaned against the back of the couch while the popcorn popped in the kitchen. “You seemed far too pleased with yourself and have me curious.”

                “You’re not prying it out of me that easily, Scully,” Mulder peeked around the corner at her, a bowl in his hand as the microwave dinged. “I have one more to pop…not like you’re in a hurry or have anywhere else to be tonight, right?”

                “Exactly how long is this movie?” Scully could hear him muttering an obscenity or three as he dumped the first bag of hot popcorn into the bowl while the other popped as she adjusted her seated position just slightly. “Or does that give too much away?”

                “It’s just longer than the average movie but not Godfather runtime—is that sufficient for you, Scully?” Mulder pulled the second bag from the microwave and emptied it into the bowl before going into the living room, a grin across his lips as he handed her the popcorn. “You were the kind of kid that tried to peek at presents before they were wrapped, weren’t you?”

                “We’re not taking a journey down memory lane tonight, Mulder,” Scully nearly choked on the beer as she even thought of the idea of Mulder probing into her history for the juicy bits of information about her childhood. “So, about that movie.”

                Mulder was at the television with the cassette in his hand, pulling it free from the plastic while he was looking back at her, being far more cinematic in his gestures than necessary. “I remember having a conversation with you about six years ago about a movie being considered one of your favorites—and I remember everything, Scully.”

                “Oh boy,” Scully knew that Mulder’s photographic memory had a way of slipping into their everyday conversation, the notion of which had her awkwardly elevating an eyebrow at him, curiosity burning as she struggled to think back that far. “I don’t hold onto nearly the same amount of useless information that you do and you know it.”

                “I hold onto a lot more information than you’d realize, some more useful than others,” Mulder caught himself pressing his lips together, wetting them just enough to get her nervously laughing while bringing the beer bottle back up to her mouth.

                “Mulder, you’re stalling,” Scully watched as he pushed the tape into the player, taking his eyes off of her while the screen momentarily went black as it started in on the set up of warnings before the usual previews. “Do I get to know the movie title or are you just going to vague me into watching?”

                “You have four movie previews to work it out while I get the room ready,” Mulder was worse than a little boy as he moved around the room, closing the blinds and turning off lights, coaxing nervous laughter from Scully as he left only the fish tank light on. “Or you could just be surprised…for once.”

                “Give me one hint,” Scully hadn’t really flirted openly in a long time and showed as she pushed her bottom lip out, pouting at him as he sat down. “Please?”

                Mulder picked up his beer as he scooted backward, getting as comfortable as he could with the sling still firmly in place, letting out a low grunt as the tender spots rubbed against the back of the couch. “Your only clue…is that it’s a wildly popular film from the seventies.”

                “That’s the weakest hint in creation,” Scully was already noticing a pattern with the previews, each one gorier than the last as she wrinkled her nose at him. “Mulder, are you trying to see how long I sit through a slasher? I’ll hurt your other arm if you are.”

                Mulder’s eyes nearly popped out of the sockets as he pushed the bottle between his knees and reached forward for a slice of pizza. “It’s not a slasher but it’s not a warm and fuzzy romantic comedy if that’s what you were hoping for.”

                “You really have me pegged as a romantic comedy fan…it’s like you don’t know me at all,” Scully reached over and pulled the bottle free, holding it after he nearly spilled it all over the floor, her eyebrow shooting straight toward the ceiling. “ _Silence of the Lambs_.”

                “Strike one,” He took a bite out of the pizza, watched her tongue visibly slide to her cheek between her teeth inside of her mouth as she held his beer. “I’d say you’re getting warmer but I don’t know if that’s really the situation since you know that’s not from the 70s, Scully.”

                “ _Rear Window_ ,” Scully was really going straight into left field but she wanted to gauge the response as she offered his beer back to him. “Am I any closer?”

                “Errr…I’m not much on rear window ethics, Scully,” Mulder purposely quoted the movie, took his beer back from her, winked, and took another sip. “I told you, useless information…but that’s strike two.”

                “Swing and a miss. I hate this game,” Scully realized they were on the last of the previews as she chewed on her bottom lip. “It’s not a porn, right?”

                Mulder choked on the beer and did a double take at her, almost incredulously while he tried his best not to drown on the imported backwash. “If I knew you were game for that kind of movie night, Scully, I’d have made that invitation when you found the magical drawer of mystery in the office…I mean, what?”

                Scully chuckled for a moment then audibly gasped as she had the neck of the beer bottle up by her lips. “Wait, that didn’t count as a guess did it?”

                “It should but it wasn’t a title so no…you have one more,” Mulder had a mouth full of pizza and was getting more amused by the second at her as she fidgeted on the couch with the popcorn bowl in her lap like a child. “But you better hurry, you’re running low on time, little redhead.”

                “For a man with a sling on an already injured arm, you’re living a little dangerously by calling me that,” Scully narrowed her eyes and elevated the bottle, drinking just a little more. “ _Apocalypse Now_?”

                “Back to the dugout, Scully,” Mulder was working on a second slice of pizza, a grin hiding on his lips as the screen went dark. “I know you would’ve gotten it if you would’ve just thought about it a little harder.”

                “Mulder…” Scully watched to the first set of feature presentation introductions pop up before they faded into the dark, the final seconds ticking away as she realized that she really had no idea. “What have I gotten myself into?”

                The Warner Home Video skyline filled the screen while the signature music associated with the company filled the room with a subtle hum before fading to a quick dim. Mulder glanced over at Scully, with a bit of concern on his face, as the black and white Warner Bros. Pictures and Time Warner Entertainment logo popped up, the eerie introductory music of the film already taking center stage before the first images of the house came up on the screen. There couldn’t have been a vaguer yet creepier way for Scully to witness the beginning of any film as the red ‘A William Friedkin Film’ titles flooded the room with a dull glow. Scully’s eyes darted between the television and Mulder as she popped a piece of crust into her mouth just in time for the words ‘The Exorcist’ to cut in, filling the entire screen.

                That’s when she started laughing again, with more trepidation than either of them could’ve anticipated, as they gave each other silent, needed glances before looking back at the movie.

                It was going to be an awfully long movie sitting next to a man that had already witnessed what happens when she became startled—a thought that was now amplified as the beginning scene began to unfold.


	2. You Couldn't Just Pick Mannequin?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been two full days since their tender, albeit brief, moment at the stroke of midnight and Mulder decides to invite Scully over for a little movie and popcorn night for a film that has stayed locked in his mind as her favorite—The Exorcist. 
> 
> In this chapter, Scully finally lets the cat out of the bag that this isn’t her favorite movie and it’s providing more entertainment for Mulder for all of the wrong reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You won't be running away from my puns anytime soon so buckle up, buttercup, and prepare yourself.
> 
> It gets...hairy.
> 
> *muahaha*
> 
>  
> 
> I'm sorry was that laugh too much?
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: Agent Scully, Agent Mulder, and Assistant Director Skinner belong respectively to Chris Carter, FOX Productions, and TenThirteen Productions. All other characters are original and any likeness or named similarities to any real-life persons are purely coincidental (unless, well, you’ve been told, then you should’ve expected such things and shouldn’t get upset over anything that happens to them, respectively)

 

 

_Troubles always seemed more severe_

_After the sun went down. Even irrational_

_Worries and fears could seem perfectly_

_Logical at midnight._

_-_ Jeanne Stephens

 

 

                They had already cracked open a second beer each as it was more than a little apparent to Scully that the drink would be necessary to soften her nerves as she braved her way through one of the scarier films of the seventies. Mulder was simply keeping pace and trying not to feel like an ass as he could see her white knuckling the popcorn bowl in his peripheral even though they were less than thirty minutes in, with little to no real scares to worry over, at least not yet. Scully hadn’t looked Mulder in the eye for at least fifteen of those minutes, her eyes glued to the unfolding story in front of her that she, truth be told, hadn’t watched in years. Her stomach was in knots from the first five minutes realizing that she had watched the last time with her hands over her face, covering the majority of her vision and only leaving the sound, which really did nothing but instill a mental picture for days to follow.

                “Mulder, is that your foot touching me?” Scully knew that the question already sounded like a jumpy teenager as she turned her head, peeking underneath the bowl while the story continued to unfold on the television.

                Mulder wiggled his toes and felt the distinctive chill of Scully’s arch against the bottom of his big toe as he took a swig of his beer, nodding from behind the bottle. “Oh, yeah, those are my cold toes touching your insanely freezing soles.”

                “They are not that cold, I’m wearing socks,” Scully pushed the blanket around her foot a little better and shot him a sideways glare, relieved that she could purposely take her eyes off of the screen. “Better?”

                “I wasn’t complaining about your chilly feet, Scully,” Mulder chuckled and palmed a handful of the popcorn, tossing a couple of kernels into his mouth while glancing over at her. “We don’t have to watch this if you don’t want to—I do have a few others to pick from if need be.”

                “No, this one is really okay,” Scully hated admitting defeat, especially to Mulder as the mere contemplation of finishing this movie followed by going home to her own bed alone had her half terrified. “This is the one you picked out and I’m going to drink my beer…munch on some of this popcorn. It’ll be great.”

                “You know this is based largely on a real-life event surrounding the grounds at Georgetown right, Scully?” Mulder liked flexing his mental muscles, musing over the chill in the air as he watched her sip her beer. “1949, a fourteen-year-old boy was trying to contact his dead aunt using an Ouija Board and was, subsequently, possessed for his troubles.”

                “Sounds like a questionable life decision, even for a fourteen-year-old,” Scully raised an eyebrow and made eye contact with him, the smirk plastered on his face as she brought the bottleneck back up to her lips. “You’re getting a rise out of this, aren’t you?”

                Mulder chuckled, thoroughly tickled over the layers of vulnerability that were peeking out with every passing second from the woman that he had spent far too long visually examining with, and without, her full awareness. “Not at all—I was under the impression that this was one of your favorite movies, Scully, so I made sure that we have all of the necessities for an epic feature.”

                “Sounds more like you’re trying to scare the crap out of me yet again,” Scully awkwardly giggled and held her breath for a second as the words clicked into place, her wheels turning as she turned her head toward him. “I don’t think I’m entirely far off base and you know how I feel about feeling irrational fear, Mulder.”

                “I’m going to get you another beer,” Mulder gingerly slid off the couch after taking the emptied bottle from her hand and watched as her mouth dropped open while he disappeared into the kitchen. “You aren’t that jumpy, are you?”

                “Little known fact about me—Bill and Charlie used to jump out to scare me during movie nights. It’s one of the reasons that mom started banning horror films before we reached an acceptable age,” Scully bit down on her lip and glanced at the screen as the music changed, the crescendo changing to that ominous feel that had her swallowing hard. “Does it have to be dark in here?”

                “Oh, come on, it’s the only way to watch a scary movie,” Mulder walked back into the living room with two bottles gathered in his fingers via his uninjured arm, extending both toward her as he smirked. “I bet you were one of those spastic shrieking kind of girls.”

                “Shut up,” Scully put her beer on the coffee table, gripping the popcorn bowl just a little tighter as it nearly toppled over in the process. “I tended to leap, gasp, and flail…and you’re not funny.”

                “I know what you do, Scully…remember the flashlight incident last year?” Mulder was definitely one of those big brothers that would’ve joined in on Bill and Charlie’s taunting as Scully stared at him, mouth agape for a moment.

                “That’s not the same and you know it,” Scully knew he was referencing the moment that he shined the flashlight along his chin and made a horrendous face at her until the scream that left her lips was nearly inhuman. “This is a significantly higher level of irrationality.”

                “Higher? Well, shit, that’s not good at all,” The ulterior motive of getting close to her was clear as he swiped another handful of the popcorn from the bowl and awkwardly slid both of his feet underneath of the blanket. “You know, you could scoot closer to me, if that would make you feel better?”

                “Mulder, you’re less than forty-eight hours removed from nearly having your arm ripped off and now you’re trying to get a little handsy?” Scully would’ve been lying if she wasn’t a little more than interested in venturing further than the thirty seconds of kissing and the awkward necking that followed after they had left the hospital but this was a bit much given the sling and movie combination. “You’re truly ridiculous.”

                “Scouts honor, I’ll behave but don’t get mad at the right arm if there’s a sudden movement, he gets the twitches,” Mulder weakly maneuvered the sling in her general direction and had her eyes rolling as he stifled a laugh while she adjusted her grip on the popcorn bowl and pressing her lips together. “Scully, I can’t even attempt to yawn and wrap.”

                Scully’s involuntary belly laugh almost covered up the first of the more visceral scenes in the movie, the reaction of which caused her to make a horrified face and half choke on a popcorn kernel. “Oh, Jesus, Christ…what in the fuck…going to asphyxiate on popcorn while you give me a weird look as one of the most terrifying parts of this movie plays out. Mulder, you better hope that ghosts are a figment of our imagination because, if not, you’re in trouble.”

                “This isn’t the scariest part of the movie, you know that,” Mulder took a swig of his beer and hid a laugh into the neck of the bottle much to her chagrin as she stared him down again. “Scully, am I getting the impression that it’s been too long since you’ve seen this movie.”

                “You couldn’t just pick _Mannequin_?” Scully’s voice was teetering on whining as the music and action across the screen made her visibly jump, knocking some of the popcorn onto Mulder’s lap. “Was normal just out of that mental process for you?”

                “Scully, I can hold onto the popcorn for you if it’s too much of an issue,” Mulder bit down on his lip, holding in another chuckle that desperately wanted to come out as her knuckles went white around the edge of the bowl.

                “No, no I can white knuckle this just fine,” She didn’t want to look at him and give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was beyond her typical level of fright as she recollected, in vivid detail, the previous attempt at watching this movie.

                It didn’t end well and neighbors were concerned for her safety after the screams echoed beyond the front door.

                “We don’t have to finish watching this, if it’s really too much,” Mulder wanted to put his hand over hers but she was tense enough without him adding the fuel to the fire as he fidgeted against the couch, the pressure on his right arm just enough to become uncomfortable. “Or we switch spots so you can squeeze my arm instead of the edge of plastic?”

                “I’m really just fine with the movie but maybe switching spots is a good idea just in case,” Scully had that lost look in her eye as she met glances and slid her feet onto the floor while Mulder got up from his seated position.

                He couldn’t hold it in anymore as the laugh finally left his mouth, making it difficult to understand the words as he made his way to the other side of the couch while she slid to the spot he had been sitting on. “I might become collateral damage on my already injury-riddled side?”

                “Do you feel quite satisfied with yourself now?” Scully was half hiding underneath of the blanket as she caught the first part of the loudest, more gruesome scenes playing out on screen, sending half of the popcorn flying into the air and onto Mulder as she flailed. “Oh, my God—why is this movie harder to watch than I remember?”

                “There goes half of the popcorn,” Mulder barely had the blanket pulled nearly all the way across his legs after getting the injured arm repositioned against the armrest, his beer comfortably between his legs. “So much for cleaning my apartment.”

                Scully sucked her bottom lip into her mouth as she held the bowl between her fingers, glancing at what remained inside of the fairly large container before looking at him, a smirk curving across her lips as she covered her lap with the blanket a bit better. “You could look at this one of two ways, Mulder…the first one is that there’s a mess on your floor and couch again or, your lap just got a little bit of action that you hadn’t gotten tonight.”

                “Oh, so now you’ve got jokes?” Mulder shook the blanket, tossing the popcorn onto the floor in a haphazard pile, scattered in front of the couch like they were watching the movie right along with them. “I’d suspect that the last time you watched this movie, it was through the gaps in your fingers, Scully.”

                “You can’t get mad over me utilizing a comment that would normally be in your own arsenal,” Scully plucked a kernel of popcorn out of his hair, tossed it onto the floor and grinned at him from behind her beer. “Why would I tell you about that? You’re going to make fun of me like you have been all evening.”

                “I’m offended you’d think so little of me, Scully, to think I’d take advantage of your fear for my own benefit,” Mulder knew exactly how that comment sounded as it earned an elevated eyebrow from her while he scrambled to redeem himself. “Okay, okay, okay…I wouldn’t be utilizing it to make fun of you but I might be apt to, I don’t know, putting my arm around you? Play the hero?”

                “And get elbowed in the lip for inevitably scaring me since you, clearly, love doing it?” Scully was fully distracting herself from the levitation displayed on the screen, the tension climbing as she diverted her eyes away from the true horror unfolding in technicolor. “Admit it, you are delighted that you have exposed that your partner is afraid of a movie, Mulder.”

                 The truth of it was that he really didn’t have any expectation or mecca in mind for the turn of events other than drifting ever closer to the woman he’d only gotten the tiniest tastes of. Mulder knew that he was in no shape to take it to the point that he desired the most but there was something tugging at his heartstrings that had him staring into pools of sapphire and peeking at a bitten lip. Scully had unearthed it in him in spite of the consequences and his intuition was shoving him forward in spite of his brain screaming at the obvious unease that hovered in the air thanks to his choice for a movie. It was another one of those ill-conceived ideas, he had concluded as his eyes lingered over the gooseflesh forming along her arms that she couldn’t even fathom hiding.

                _Way to go, Mulder, you really mucked this up._ Mulder sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and bit down while Scully’s eyes stayed locked onto his.

                “I admit that you’re awfully cute when you’re this uncomfortable, Scully,” Mulder was treading lightly even though he was sailing in dangerous waters with that comment as the pink formed along her cheeks, blush expanding across her skin toward her ears. “I don’t think it’s a negative thing, do you?”

                 “I mean…maybe, maybe not,” Scully was caught somewhere in the middle of embarrassed, intrigued, and disgusted as she wetted her lips, glancing just slightly at the television in time to witness the main character as she recited a series of fuck me’s. “Oh, come on! The cross does not belong in there!”

                Mulder coughed, nearly spitting up his beer as he took another drink, the laugh coming out in airy bursts as he watched her face contort in horror. “Fucking hell, I don’t even need to watch the movie, I could just witness your reactions and be completely satisfied.”

                “They don’t teach you any of this in Catechism—the devil doesn’t enter you that way and I swear to God, Mulder, if you don’t stop laughing I’m going to elbow you so hard you’ll wish you had the other arm in a sling,” Scully wanted to cover her face as she let the bowl slide around between her fingers while she gripped the neck of her beer bottle. “This is so gross.”

                “I would hope that none of this material is taught in Catechism,” Mulder had a healthy smile on his face, the buried laugh deep in his belly as he held it in while turning red across the bridge of his nose, braving a hand across Scully’s thigh. “No startled movement or a stray arm to any of my body parts? I’m pleasantly surprised.”

                Scully took a deep breath, focused on the warmth of his touch radiating through her jeans and bit down on her lip as she pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, letting a muffled squeak barely escape. “I’m too much like a deer caught in the headlights to really react so you’re lucky…this time.”

                “I’ll take whatever I can get,” Mulder was feeling particularly brave as he felt her hand settle over the top of his own while he watched her angle her legs in such a way that the bowl was in her lap, freeing her hands entirely.

                “You’re worse than a teenager, you know that, right?” Scully’s words spoke of protest but her actions were the reversal as she settled against his shoulder, half leaning on him, the uneasiness slowly melting away as she took a sip of her beer. “Giving my thigh a squeeze while we are watching one of the most fucked up films in history? You’re more than brave, Mulder, you’re an asshole.”

                “Nah, if I were an asshole I wouldn’t have chosen your leg to sneak a squeeze,” Mulder wanted another drink but he was staring at it between his knees, refusing to remove his hand from her leg while the sling mocked him against his body. “I don’t really see you protesting.”

                “I still don’t know how you managed to get the wild idea that I like this movie, though,” Scully craned her neck to look up at him, her eyes wide as she took her focus off of the screen. “It was one of those that I hated for years.”

                “You really don’t remember having the conversation with me? You told me once that this was your favorite movie—I have a fantastic, grade A memory, Scully,” Mulder felt her jolt against him as she looked at the screen as the music indicated another change in focus, indicating the conclusion of the needed, impending exorcism.

                “Are you talking about the Hartley case, Mulder?” Scully cleared her throat, stifled a giggle and glanced up at him. “I need to work on my sarcasm because it completely escaped you.”

                “An eidetic memory doesn’t necessarily mean I can pick up on the subtle nuances of your intonation,” Mulder was bullshitting her because he knew he had blatantly missed that moment, that not-so-subtle hint of a twitch that existed when she uttered that line back then.

                “It’s one of the few films that legitimately frightens me and has every time that I’ve watched it,” Scully went tight in the spine and put a little pressure on Mulder’s fingers, wincing as the sharp musical tones had her anticipating the next part. “As you’ve been seeing since about three seconds in...”

                “Scully, I really mean it, if you want me to turn it off, I can,” Mulder was adamant as he realized the worst of the plot was not far off as every hair on the back of Scully’s neck stood on end before the trail of gooseflesh followed in a flood across the surface of her skin. “We can watch something else.”

                “You know what’s different than the other times I’ve watched this movie, Mulder?” Scully moved the bowl to the coffee table and pulled his arm around her, comfortably cocooning against him as she tucked the blanket around them both.

                “I’m listening,” Mulder, rubbed her shoulder and inhaled the scent of her shampoo as her fingers coiled around the hem of his shirt.

                “You’re here…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning quote by:  
> Jeanne Stephens
> 
> References Made:  
> Mannequin - If you don't like this movie, I'm silently judging you
> 
> Cate and Monika -- whoa, Nelly...how do you put up with me?


	3. What are you so afraid of?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been two full days since their tender, albeit brief, moment at the stroke of midnight and Mulder decides to invite Scully over for a little movie and popcorn night for a film that has stayed locked in his mind as her favorite—The Exorcist. 
> 
> The concluding chapter finishes off the movie and the night for Mulder and Scully…and a proposition is made that blurs a once evident line between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like some fluff and puns...oh, and I hope the swerve is acceptable. It seemed fitting. 
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: Agent Scully, Agent Mulder, and Assistant Director Skinner belong respectively to Chris Carter, FOX Productions, and TenThirteen Productions. All other characters are original and any likeness or named similarities to any real-life persons are purely coincidental (unless, well, you’ve been told, then you should’ve expected such things and shouldn’t get upset over anything that happens to them, respectively)

 

 

 

_For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all;_

_I think it finally is a matter of love._

-William Peter Blatty

 

 

                Scully had become increasingly aware of the muscles throughout her stomach, along her arms, and into her fingers as she gripped the edge of the blanket until the tingling set in. Three beers would normally get her feeling comfortable, warm even, but not tonight as _The Exorcist_ was doing its clever best to keep her from fully letting go of the remainder of her inner strain. There was a little bit of repose in the situation as Mulder’s warmth against the curve of her back truly had her far from the grips of distress like she had been the last time this film was presented to her. There was a part of her that wouldn’t have minded simply pretending like she couldn’t actually see the screen so she could fully relish the informal state of their posturing.

                Everything had become so de-stressed that Scully didn’t even flinch at the sight of the projectile vomit dousing Karras on the screen.

                “I find it shocking that you’d dislike a movie so deeply rooted in Catholicism, Scully,” Mulder had the mind of his younger self at times as he heard her tongue click against the roof of her mouth and the scoff that followed. “Not to say that all Catholics would like a movie about demon possession but there’s an astounding amount of information within the script.”

                “Mulder, a good Catholic upbringing teaches you to be more scared of things like this than just about anything under the sun without much consideration for how silly it may seem at the time,” Scully held her breath as the words ‘help me’ were popping up across Regan’s abdomen, the imagery of which had her wincing just enough to make a ‘tsss’ sound against his side. “This movie was a device to push more fear on us and it worked, more often than not.”

                “How did you end up watching it, then?” Mulder no longer minded that they really hadn’t paid attention to at least forty percent of the movie as the invisible wall that Scully had built to guard against him was slowly coming down. “Were you rebellious and watched it in spite of the obvious warnings from everyone, Scully?”

                “To a certain degree I was rebellious but not in regards to watching _The Exorcist_ ,” Scully shook her head and ran her index finger over the cross that had bunched high along her neckline. “This movie was inflicted upon me by Missy and Bill when I came home during college when Mom and Dad had gone out for a rare evening alone.”

                “Everyone was still living at home?” Mulder raised an eyebrow at the idea of his own parents being moderately okay with him as an adult living at home rather than encouraging him out of the nest like a barely capable baby bird.

                “No, we were all there for the long Thanksgiving weekend and Mom always insisted we just stay at the house even though we all had our own places already…except for Charlie, of course,” Scully laughed at the question, moderately fond of the memories of her upbringing. “If Mom had gotten her way, we wouldn’t have ever left.”

                “I get that idea from her,” Mulder watched her eyes close and open slowly, her long lashes fanning toward the ceiling as she recollected that part of her life. “So, go on about the reason this movie has you scarred for life…”

                “Missy decided to join in on the masculine torture, jumping out at me whenever something bad happened on screen or screeching while waving her rosary in my face,” Scully rolled her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, sighing softly. “The party was completely over the moment that Bill decided to pretend that the glass that he had just filled with water was holy water—he poured it on my head while he shouted ‘demon be gone’ until I screamed bloody murder which led directly to me shouting that he should kiss my ass.”

                “Let me guess, your parents walked in right as that happened?” Mulder chuckled and finished the last sips of his beer, the smile remaining as she shared a previously unknown part of her life with him.

                The laugh was delayed but came from her belly as she nearly shook the couch as she covered her mouth and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother and sister move that fast in my entire life to get out of the living room while I stood there with my hair still dripping, clutching Missy’s damn rosary. God, I was going to beat her with it that night.”

                “Sounds like she should’ve been grateful for parental interference?” Mulder really hadn’t imagined a moment in which he could adore Scully more but the story only added to the list of things that he had grown to cherish as he let his fingers linger against her skin, rubbing in slow circles.

                “She always just wanted to have fun even at the expense of a person in the room that might not have had the strongest constitution—it was one thing that I admired about her while simultaneously despising,” Scully didn’t want this night to be mired with sadness over the memory of Melissa as she pressed her lips together and pushed the air through the smallest gap, audibly blowing a raspberry into the air.

                “It’s okay to miss her, Scully,” Mulder carried that same level of guilt within himself as he gave her a gentle nudge with the curve of his chin to the back of her head. “You’re only sharing a blanket with one of the worst when it comes to self-inflicted pain about the ones we’ve lost.”

                “I hadn’t really looked at it that way,” Scully swallowed hard and bit the corner of her lip as she smirked, scoping out the mess of popcorn on the floor as she swung a leg toward the edge of the couch to get closer to him. “You know, she’d laugh at me over the way I’ve acted during this movie tonight.”

                “Just think, though, we haven’t even gotten to the exorcism, Scully,” Mulder laughed and moved his right arm toward the armrest until his shoulder popped in the confines of the sling. “You’ve only watched a minor jump or two and the visual grabs…”

                “You mean the disgusting parts?” Scully fidgeted, exposing her left foot as she pulled the blanket toward her chest. “It really is chilly in here.”

                “Are you going to guilt me into getting up to turn the heat up because I will…just for you,” Mulder started to slide forward but was stopped by a glossy manicured hand as Scully pressed her palm against his stomach, pushing him backward. “Or not.”

                “Just share the blanket a little better, you’re hogging it,” Scully’s voice dropped a half an octave as she pulled her feet in and dragged his arm between them, sliding her fingers around his as her left hand pulled the blanket across her legs a little more. “See? Now we’ll both be warm and can finish the movie without freezing to death on your couch.”

                “You just don’t want to allow me to pry myself free from your death grip,” Mulder allowed his back to press against the couch, the cushion giving under his weight as he gave her a knowing smirk. “Admit it.”

                Scully really wasn’t fond of the idea of sitting in Mulder’s living room for any length of time alone in the dark as she fumbled with the blanket a little more and nearly took a chunk out of her lip with her teeth. “I just don’t want you to squish the pile of popcorn in the dark and create an even bigger mess on the floor after all of your hard work today.”

                “What an outstanding little white lie you’ve constructed,” Mulder laughed and found himself shaking his head as he became hopelessly lost in those pools of blue as she looked up at him from the curve of his arm. “Finish watching the movie.”

 

 

 

_They’ve promised that dreams can come true-_

_But forget to mention that nightmares_

_Are dreams, too._

-Oscar Wilde

 

               

                “Do you always sit through the credits?” Mulder reluctantly broke the soft, almost ambient silence that rose above Mike Oldfield’s iconic “Tubular Bells” that had even invaded his own teenaged dreams.

                Scully inhaled deeply and glanced out the window at the falling, January snow as she stretched against the couch, shaking her head slowly. “Not usually…but I was very comfortable just relaxing in this position.”

                Mulder reached for the remote and flipped the TV off, leaving both of them in the glow of the bright, white illumination of the snow from the street outside as it managed to shine through the closed slats of the blinds. Snowfall was usual for this time of year in the DC area but they had gotten a lot more since New Year’s Eve after leaving the hospital. Scully glanced at the door as the bubbling from the fish tank was now the loudest sound in the room, reluctance reaching new heights as she imagined how cold her boots were going to be. Mulder cleared his throat, bringing her attention squarely on his softened grin as their eyes adjusted to the shifting light. She didn’t want to leave and couldn’t tell that he didn’t want her to leave, either.

                “Looks like the winter snow that every kid dreams of for Christmas got here just a touch late this year,” Mulder slid out from under the blanket and hauled himself off of the couch, narrowly avoiding the pile of popcorn on the floor as he went to the window, flicking the desk lamp before angling the blinds open a little. “Got a decent blanket of it going since the movie started—and it’s really coming down out there.”

                “I should probably get going so I can make sure I get home in one piece, start a fire, and watch something mundane until I fall asleep on the couch,” Scully was folding the blanket as she stood to retrieve her shoes, her shoulders elevated as she peered down at the mess. “Sorry about the popcorn, Mulder.”

                “Did you swap out the clothes in your overnight bag, Scully?” Mulder turned around, his eyes on her as she rocked against her heels and stepped away from her boot.

                “What?” Scully was caught completely off guard to the point that her eyes hovered over him as he stepped into his own shoes and slide on a light jacket in spite of how awkward it was to maneuver around the sling.

                “Your overnight bag that you always keep in your car for last minute, fly by the seat of our pants trips when we don’t have time to go home to pack? Did you swap out the dirty clothes for clean ones or not?” Mulder stood in front of her and watched her slowly blink, the blush forming along her cheeks all over again as he zipped his coat. “Well?”

                “Yeah, it’s in the trunk…but I didn’t put a pair of pajamas in it this time,” Scully pressed her lips together and watched a grin fill his face from ear to ear like a teenaged boy as he cleared his throat. “What’s that smile for?”

                “Nothing, nothing at all, Scully…I’ll go get it while you go find a tee-shirt from the clean clothes to change into,” Mulder knew exactly where her keys were as he fished around in her coat pocket, pulling the modest set of keys from inside, wiggling them at her as he reached for the door handle. “Lets hope I don’t kill myself on the sidewalk to or from your car.”

                 “Mulder, I can go home—you don’t have to do that,” Scully was admittedly nervous at the prospect of staying even though Mulder wasn’t exactly in any condition to mess around or push the envelope.

                “I don’t feel comfortable letting you drive this late at night in the snow, Scully,” Mulder knew she was more than capable but the excuse was primed, evident, and necessary as he smirked at her while opening the door. “What are you so afraid of?”

                Mulder didn’t give her the chance to answer the question as he disappeared out the front door, leaving her with her mouth agape next to his kitchen table. The answer toed the line between complicated and simple—she was afraid of the possibilities, of what staying the night with an invitation might mean, of being that close to him all over again. Scully held her breath, closed her eyes, and heard the unceremoniously loud, and ill-timed clicking of the VCR as it spat out the tape after rewinding it entirely. She was still jumpy as the noise set off a chain reaction that started with her eyes snapping back open as she stared at the open door to Mulder’s bedroom. The sharpness of her inhale was audible as reality flooded back, the choice right there as she felt the floor shift beneath her feet, propelling her forward.

                _You know exactly what you’re afraid of._

                Scully would’ve loved to place every bit of the blame on a movie that had frightened her for years but it wasn’t exactly the truth as she stepped through the doorway and pushed the switch up, flooding Mulder’s bedroom in a bright, white light. It wasn’t as though she had never been in that room before because she had but everything felt different, looked different, and smelled different as she felt the chill of cool air move across the back of her neck. For the first time, a bedroom that previously carried an emptiness now had signs of being lived in—to the point that the bed even looked slept in. Mulder was trying to create his own space, she had surmised, as she smirked at the remote on the nightstand sitting atop a science fiction novel, half hiding a few stray sunflower seed hulls that had escaped his cleaning spree.  The swirling flutter in her gut was new, foreign, uncharted and exciting as she pulled the gray New York Knicks shirt from the top of the stack of clean clothes, allowing it to unfurl almost in slow motion.

                “Coincidence doesn’t exist,” Scully stepped out of her socks, changed out of her jeans and shirt before sliding into Mulder’s larger, comfortable shirt that fell to mid-thigh, enveloping her frame completely. “Cold in here.”

                Mulder thought he was being stealthy as he tiptoed back into the room and slid his arm around her middle, gently angling his chin along her shoulder. “Would’ve thought you’d jump if I snuck up on you like that.”

                “You shuffle your feet when you walk, Mulder,” Scully smirked and felt the cold and warmth in unison mixing against her as he stayed in that position, inhaling a deep breath. “Besides, I heard you locking the door.”

                “It’s a good thing that I wasn’t trying to give you a good scare since the lock was going to give me away, anyway,” Mulder let go with a measure of vacillation and maneuvered around her, sliding her small, almost delicately arranged, overnight bag across the edge of the dresser, watching her move in his peripheral as he gathered a pair of sweats between his fingers. “The sheets are clean and the pillows are comfortable…I will go reacquaint myself with an old friend for tonight.”

                Scully was already standing at the edge of the bed, a fistful of the covers pulled back enough to crawl in as she turned her head toward him. “Mulder, as much as I appreciate the obvious chivalrous act you’re about to commit…don’t, not tonight.”

                Mulder’s throat went dry as he stood in the doorway, hand on the edge of the dresser, thumbing over the shoulder strap of her overnight bag as he met glances with her. “I don’t really fall asleep in the dark, Scully.”

                “That’s okay,” Scully bit down on her lip as she slid underneath of the sheets and waved the remote at him, a sheepish smile hiding at the corners of her mouth. “You said you had other movies that we could watch? Any of them quiet enough for falling asleep to?”

                “I’m supposed to be the one making suggestions, Scully,” Mulder could see the screen dancing in his peripheral as he turned the light off and disappeared into the bathroom, his voice carrying over the sound of the faucet for a moment. “You know the usual proclivities are hiding away in a box likely marked with the wrong label but there are tapes along the side of the television. I think I have _Man on the Moon_ over there somewhere.”

                Scully crawled across the bed and slid to a seated position at the end, dangling her legs until she was staring at the stack of angled, disorganized movies that were sitting beside the TV somewhat haphazardly. “Who gave you permission to be trendy, Mulder? You have _The Ninth Gate_ and _American Pie_ over here?”

                “The juxtaposition of those two sitting next to each other has me worried—no Johnny Depp, tonight, Scully, I don’t need the inferiority complex,” Mulder came out of the bathroom in his boxers, holding his arm against his chest, gingerly moving in her direction.

                “ _American Pie_ , it is, then,” Scully smirked and put the tape into the player as Mulder crawled into the bed, waiting long enough for the tape to start playing to slide against the edge of the bed as she got back under the covers on the other side. “How’s the arm?”

                “Sore—it’ll be better in a minute,” Mulder leaned against the pillows behind him and swallowed hard, trying his best not to allow nerves to get the better of him as her knee grazed against his. “You sure this is okay?”

                “I thought I was the one who was spooked, Mulder, not the other way around,” Scully turned the bedside lamp off and fluffed the pillow behind her before settling against it, letting her fingers brush against his arm.

                “Might be giving off the wrong impression, entirely, then, Scully,” Mulder was a far cry from his usual, confident self as he was trapped staring at her mouth again as he had two nights ago, contemplating her with considerably more yearning than a man who hadn’t ventured to take the leap just yet.

                “Maybe I should switch to Johnny Depp for a while?” Scully was obviously teasing him, baiting him into an extrication of sorts as she leaned against the palm of her hand, tilting onto her elbow.

                “Jesus Christ almighty,” Mulder took the line, sank his figurative teeth into the hook and allowed her to yank him toward the surface as he awkwardly leaned onto his left arm, lifting the injured arm into the air just enough as his mouth found hers in a singularly, needy motion.

                They had been tiptoeing around the exact notion of their feelings; delicately finding the balance between perpetually circling around what had happened on New Year’s Eve and what they had been ignoring since—the existence of wanting more. It was plausible to assume they had been thinking about each other a great deal as both seemed to know one another’s mouth by heart after only one night of testing such waters. Mulder’s wound was a predicament neither of them had quite envisioned nor prepared for as he cradled the back of her head with his unencumbered hand while hers steadied along the curves of his shoulders. He was doing his best not to wince as his right arm kept trying to bend against the wounds in just the wrong way as her head tilted in just the right way to make it nearly impossible to think beyond how perfect she felt, smelled, and tasted. Scully had nearly forgotten the spine-chilling images with the presence of Mulder’s tongue in her mouth as her eyes momentarily rolled back and the involuntary vocalization vibrated against his lips, inviting more sensations than either of them had bargained for.

                  Their mouths separated with a heavy pop and a mutual grunt that preceded the heavy breathing as Scully stared toward the ceiling and bit down on her bottom lip. “You’d better stop or you’re going to hurt yourself worse than you already are.”

                “If you hadn’t moaned in my mouth—it might have been easier to full stop this truck on the downhill grade,” Mulder’s voice was a full octave lower and breathy as he flopped onto his back, his eyes traveling along the center of the ceiling in the same way as hers. “Calm down…just, calm down.”

                “Is that for me or is it a mantra for you?” Scully was blushing as she turned her head toward him and pulled the blanket up and over her shoulder.

                There was synchronicity in the smile between them as Mulder gathered her hand between his fingers and took a moment to nod, his eyes aimed at the television for a moment. “Mainly me but if you seem to need it…by all means. I told you, I am being a good boy and I’m sticking to that.”

                “Have you been thinking about this since the countdown, Mulder?” Scully admired the curve of his nose and cheekbone as the light from the TV danced against his skin, creating a strange balance between light and shadow.

                “If I’m honest, probably longer, but that night simply kept my focus on everything that hadn’t really gotten to happen, Scully,” Mulder was eyeing her through his peripheral as he squeezed her fingers underneath of the blankets. “Were you?”

                “Well, you know, it wouldn’t have taken an elaborate night of imported beer, pizza, popcorn, and scaring the crap out of me to get me right here next to you,” Scully had her eyes on him, on his lulling, dreamy expression as he kept the bandaged arm above the covers. “Goodnight, Mulder.”

                “Night, Scully,” Mulder furrowed his brow and set his teeth against his bottom lip, pushing just enough to silence the barrage of thoughts that were now pelting his subconscious.

                Clarity had a heartbeat and a face as his eyes found hers, open and waiting next to him as he turned to face her, to listen to the sound of her breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quotes by:  
> William Peter Blatty  
> Oscar Wilde
> 
> References Made:  
> American Pie - if you don't love Eugene Levy, you have the issues  
> The Ninth Gate - Don't worry, Mulder, Scully isn't looking at Johnny Depp ;)  
> Man on the Moon - Jim Carrey is a genius
> 
>  
> 
> Once again, Monika and Cate...Ahhh, girls, this has been so much fun and thank you for being my ears, especially considering this was, technically, a gift for one of you.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, to Monika...you always keep me from going off the deep end. This may have been a gift for Cate but you kept me from spoiling ALL of it haha.
> 
> Quote at the beginning of chapter one by:  
> Ray Blount, Jr.
> 
> Referred to:  
> Silence of the Lambs  
> Rear Window  
> Apocalypse Now


End file.
